Judge Lifts Freeze on Microsoft Search Warrant

A federal judge on Friday lifted a freeze on a ruling that enforces a search warrant against Microsoft for customer email stored in a company data center in Ireland.

“Microsoft will not be turning over the emails, and plans to appeals,” A spokesman for the software giant said Friday.

In a criminal case brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, the government obtained a search warrant for digital files and information from the Microsoft email account of a person whose identity hasn’t been disclosed publicly. Microsoft has refused to turn over the content of the emails. The company says they are stored in company computers in Ireland, and Microsoft says the U.S. government is overstepping by trying to reach into another country to grab digital documents.

The legal back-and-forth is being closely watched by other technology firms and lawyers, as a test of how laws struck before the Web was popular will apply in the digital world. Microsoft also has said the reputation of the company, and of the U.S. itself, will be hurt if the company is forced to turn over the emails.

Microsoft’s top lawyer has been vocal in arguing the U.S. government’s tactics are misguided in this case. Chief U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska agreed with the government in her July 31 ruling, and said the location where the email was saved was irrelevant because Microsoft controlled its foreign-based computers from the U.S.

The company’s lawyers argued unsuccessfully in Judge Preska’s court that the Justice Department needed to obtain the emails through a legal treaty with Ireland, and that forcing Microsoft to retrieve them without the country’s consent violated Irish sovereignty and international law.

Some of Microsoft’s competitors have filed briefs in support of the tech giant’s efforts to beat back the search warrant, reflecting industry concern that compliance with U.S. requests for data held abroad could alienate foreign governments. They face increasing pressure abroad to shore up customer privacy.

–Shira Ovide contributed to this article.

Note: This post has been updated to include an amended statement from Microsoft.